The Contortionist finished their Fall tour with Rivers of Nihil last Saturday at the Old National Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a concept tour in a way. Not only did The Contortionist play two of their albums in their entirety, but Rivers of Nihil also played an album straight through. That is something I had never seen before.
The Old National Centre was known to me for most of my life as the Murat Theatre, the oldest (extant) stage house in Indianapolis. It is a beautiful place with many performance areas including the main theater, The Egyptian Room, and a number of other halls and lobbies. The Contortionist show was in one of the lower levels in a small hall at the back. It is nicer than I am making it sound – imagine a decent-sized room where a wedding reception might be held with a stage on one side.
The evening got off to a peculiar start when Rivers of Nihil took the stage. The bassist, Adam Biggs, announced that the lead singer, Jake Dieffenbach, would not be performing due to “personal issues.” However, if it was OK with the crowd, the rest of the band would play anyway. (Editors note: Jake is no longer in the band) The crowd agreed (what else could they do?) and the show went on with Biggs handling the vocal duties. At one point someone did jump on stage to sing for part of a song and I am pretty sure it was Dieffenbach, but in the darkness it was hard to tell.
Rivers of Nihil played their most recent album, The Work (Metal Blade Records 2021) straight through. This album has received a lot of good press (including from me) for its depth of expression. In many ways, Rivers of Nihil have a strong Pink Floyd component going with these songs, particularly in their exploratory nature. There is an extended lyrical presence in the work, and the generous use of saxophones during the live performance greatly enhanced the experience. The lighting was particularly dim and deeply colored, with the liberal use of strobe effects to drive the etherealness home. Even without their usual lead singer, the show they put on ran for an hour and was fantastic.
The Contortionist is from Indianapolis so it is understandable that they have a strong fanbase there. The band started about fifteen years ago playing in the deathcore lane and, while they maintain elements and strains of that heavier sound, they are more of a progressive metal act now. They have released four full-length albums, Exoplanet (2010), Intrinsic (2012), Language (2014), and Clairvoyant (2017). On this tour, they played the first and the third albums in their entirety. The first album is clearly a concept album and the second can be seen that way, too, especially after the evolution it has taken from its earliest inception.
There is a long flow to the music of The Contortionist. Before the musicians took the stage on Saturday night, they let the mist machines run on full blast for what seemed like an overlong amount of time. Fog filled the stage and, as it became denser, seeped into the crowd. By the time the band started playing, they could barely be seen. Quiet, lyrical emanations grew until they permeated the space. When the heavy sounds drop, they can hit like a bombardment and, as intended, they stand in striking contrast to the ambient set-up.
The threads and connections are intricate and too numerous to count and still they are conveyed in a way that makes them ingestible. There are three key decks and two guitarists to go along with the bass and drums. When Mike Lessard sings, he seems to go into a trance, drawing from otherworldly places, or maybe from deep within a mystical inner space. The integration of the musical elements is seamless, as are the transitions. I am always amazed at the precision and musicianship that prog acts possess and display. The Contortionist exists among the elite of this already rarified group.
The show at the Old National Theatre was the final stop on the six-week tour. The Contortionist hadn’t been out for a while and the band expressed its gratitude to fans for such a warm welcome. There is no doubt they will be out on the road again before too long, and they have already banked some new music for their next album.
Rivers of Nihil start their European Faces of Death tour on November 11th and have announced a couple of dates in Mexico in February. I don’t know if these two bands will ever tour together again, but I hope they do because the combination of The Contortionist and Rivers of Nihil is truly symbiotic.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY WAYNE EDWARDS